1 Corinthians 8:6
1 Corinthians 8:66yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist.
JWs cite as distinguishing Jesus from God: the Father is the "one God" and Jesus is the "one Lord" — two persons with two different ranks. The prepositions confirm subordination: the Father is the source ("from whom") while the Son is merely the instrument ("through whom"). The verse is read as proof that Jesus is not God but a separate, subordinate being used by Jehovah as a tool in creation.
Paul deliberately reformulates the Jewish Shema (, "Jehovah our God is one Jehovah") to include Jesus within the divine identity. The Shema contains two key terms — "God" (theos) and "Lord" (kyrios, representing YHWH in the LXX). Paul distributes both across Father and Son: "one God, the Father... one Lord, Jesus Christ." Every key term from the LXX Shema — heis, theos, kyrios — appears in . A first-century Jewish monotheist placing a creature inside the Shema would be unthinkable blasphemy. The "through whom all things came" clause attributes universal creation to Jesus, yet says Jehovah created the heavens and earth alone. If Jehovah created alone and all things came through Jesus, the Son must share Jehovah's creative identity. The JW subordinationist reading also backfires: if "one God" here excludes Jesus from deity, then "one Lord" must exclude the Father from lordship — a conclusion no JW would accept.